Republican candidate opposes citizenship for US-born children of illegal immigrants

Rand Paul, the Republican US senate candidate, has said he opposes citizenship for children born in the US to parents who are illegal immigrants.

Mr Paul, who a week ago won the Republican primary, told a Russian TV station in a clip circulating on political Web sites Friday that he wants to block citizenship to those children.

The remark was made in the interview done with RT, which has an English-language broadcast, shortly after his Kentucky primary victory over Republican establishment candidate Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson.

“We’re the only country I know that allows people to come in illegally, have a baby, and then that baby becomes a citizen,” Mr Paul said. “And I think that should stop also.”

Mr Paul, a favourite of conservative tea party activists, has been on the defensive since last week, when he expressed misgivings about the 1964 Civil Rights Act and suggested the federal government shouldn’t have the power to force businesses to serve minorities. Paul later clarified that he doesn’t want to repeal the Civil Rights Act.